Egress: The Director's Cut
by Pir8grl
Summary: Originally written for the ficcingcaptaincanary prompt: "stuck in a small space." Now with 1,800 additional words. Thank you to stillthewordgirl!


"What the hell is going on in here?" Sara Lance demanded, skidding to a halt inside the engine room. "Gideon! Shut off the damn alarms - we _**know**_ there's something wrong!"

"Yes, Miss Lance," the AI replied in the sudden stillness.

"A valve in the engine let go," Jax explained. "Musta got banged up on our last mission. It's leaking gas - badly."

"So fix it."

"I'm afraid it's not quite that simple, Miss Lance," Martin Stein began, in his best lecture hall voice.

 _ **"Make**_ it simple," Sara retorted.

"Let me show you," Jax said, to head off any bickering. He pointed to a small access hatch in the floor. "I don't know what the Time Masters were thinking when they designed this place, but the only way to get to the valve and shut it off is to crawl through there."

"Let's see how bad it is," Sara said, frowning. She bent and opened the hatch. Clouds of foul-smelling vapor billowed up into the engine room. She waved it away with her hand, trying to see through eyes that were already watering.

"It's certainly not my field of expertise, but I'd say that was _ **very bad,"** _ Martin remarked, holding a handkerchief over his mouth and nose.

"You think?" Jax demanded.

Sara shot the professor a look, but refrained from commenting. The hatch opened into a small crawl space, perhaps big enough for a child, or a _**very**_ small adult.

"Gideon, can we get some ventilation going in here?"

"Of course, Miss Lance, but it will only be a temporary solution. The leak must be fixed at the source."

"And you can't do it?"

"No. There appears to be some circuitry damage in that area."

"Great." Sara bit her lip to contain the more colorful phrases that came to mind.

"Dr. Palmer could shrink down and complete these repairs," Martin suggested.

"He could, if he was here. But he's out with the others, trying to retrieve an artifact." Sara looked at the gas that was still seeping from the shaft, despite Gideon's attempts at air circulation. "I don't think we can wait. Gideon, I'm going to need a light, some sort of oxygen bottle, and whatever tools you think I might need."

"Yes, Miss Lance."

"You're kidding me, right?" Jax demanded.

"Well, you're not gonna fit in there. Gideon! Make me whatever you think I'll need, and have it ready in the fabrication room. Martin, please go get my supplies, then try to stay out of the gas as much as possible."

The older man nodded and exited the room.

"Jax, you and Gideon are going to talk me through this."

* * *

"This is a bad idea," Jax reiterated.

Sara looked up at him from the access point and smiled encouragingly. "It's the only idea we've got."

"You're gonna hafta crawl on your belly the whole way in, and once you get there, you won't be able to turn around - you're gonna hafta crawl out backwards."

"I know. You explained it. Just get me there, all right?"

"Be careful with your oxygen. You won't be able to manage anything larger in there."

"Jax. I know. This is the only way. I'll be fine." Sara smiled for her young friend one last time, then ducked down into the narrow shaft and started crawling.

"Can you guys hear me?" she asked, a few feet in.

"Affirmative, Miss Lance."

"We got you, Sara," Jax answered. "Turn right at the first corner."

* * *

It was dark inside the shaft, and Sara's penlight only illuminated flat metal panels that creaked and echoed eerily. She paused to take a pull from her oxygen bottle.

"You OK?" Jax's worried voice sounded in her comm.

"Yeah," Sara gasped. She'd probably waited too long for that oxygen, but she had to make it last. "Tell me again why we couldn't just pull up some deck plates closer to where I need to be?"

"Because you're under the main cooling unit."

"I had to ask," Sara muttered, shuddering slightly as she imagined the weight of said cooling unit pressing down on her.

"Are you sure you're OK in there?" Jax repeated yet again.

"Jax, I'm something like three quarters of the way there, right? I keep going." Sara smothered a cough against her shoulder, hoping that the comms wouldn't pick up the sound.

"Miss Lance, your oxygen levels -"

"Gideon, everyone's oxygen levels are in trouble if I don't get this fixed. How much farther?"

"Two meters ahead, on your left."

Sara grunted with the effort of dragging her body along the shaft. "OK, I've got a panel with indicator lights, mostly red. That can't be good."

"It's not," Jax replied.

Sara rolled her eyes, but kept on with her assessment. "There's a row of toggle switches - looks sort of like a circuit breaker, some fried instrument panels, and more of that damn gas leaking from a grill in the top of the shaft."

"The thing that looks like a circuit breaker - are the toggles all pointing the same way?" Jax asked intently.

"Nope. One of them is facing the opposite direction."

"That is the one you need to turn off," Gideon instructed her.

"Just flip the switch?" Sara clarified.

"Just flip the switch," Jax confirmed.

Sara tried. And failed. "Yeah…it's not budging."

"Miss Lance, you must turn off the valve in order to stop the flow of gas."

"Yeah, I got that Gideon, but it won't budge." Sara tried for another gulp of oxygen, but the bottle was empty. "Damn," she swore softly.

"Sara? What's wrong?" Martin asked.

"Nothing."

"Miss Lance appears to be out of oxygen."

"Yeah, and there's nothing we can do about it, so everyone just shut up and let me get this done."

Sara wiped her sleeve across her sweaty face and tried to focus on the problem. The toggle wouldn't move under the pressure of just her fingers, so she wedged the tiny flashlight against the switch and shoved. _**Hard.**_

There was a sharp crack, and the switch flipped. The flashlight imploded under the pressure. The silence was sudden and eerie as gas stopped flowing from the vent. All Sara could hear were her own harsh breaths, echoing against the sides of the metal shaft. The space was so close…it felt like the walls were closing in around her.

"You have succeeded in closing the valve, Miss Lance. I suggest immediate evacuation from your location."

"Yeah, fine, Gideon. In a minute." Sara closed her eyes wearily. _Just for a minute…_

"Sara!" Jax called urgently. "You've gotta get out of there!"

"Yeah," she said vaguely, trying to push her body back the way she'd come. It was far too much effort.

* * *

"Jax! Perfessor! Where the hell is everybody?" Mick bellowed as he, Snart, and Ray climbed aboard the ship.

"We're in the engine room, Mr. Rory. Please hurry!"

Snart had fallen ominously silent at the chatter they picked up once they were back in range of the ship. He strode into the engine room, taking note of the tiny open hatch in the floor, and the dissipating fog of gas still swirling around the room.

"Where is Sara?" he asked in a deadly calm voice.

Jax looked up from the opening in the floor. He could barely wedge his head and shoulders into the opening of the shaft. "She's in there."

"Raymond," Snart said sharply.

"I'm on it." Ray adjusted his helmet, then shrunk down and flew into the shaft. "Do you know how far in she is?"

"Yes, Dr. Palmer," Gideon answered.

"Good. Talk me in."

Snart stared at the hole in the deck. His expression might have seemed impassive to some, but Mick noted him flexing his hands, as if looking for something - anything - he could dismantle. He noticed Mick's scrutiny and shoved his hands deep in his pockets.

"What happened?" he asked, with icy calmness.

"A valve in the engine," Jax gasped out the explanation. "It started leaking gas - the only way to turn it off was at the source. Ray was away from the ship - there was no time - Sara was the only one small enough to fit in there."

Martin looked with kind eyes at the thief who was trying so very hard to conceal his emotions. "Mr. Snart, if I may…Sara is very clever, and very strong. We'll get her back."

Snart's eyes flickered to the old man's for a moment, then he looked away, swallowing hard. He eased himself down onto the deck, leaning as far into the space as he could. Wordlessly, Jax passed him a flashlight.

"Dr. Palmer, I advise you to hurry," Gideon said in her infuriatingly calm manner. "Miss Lance's vital signs are quite erratic."

"I found her!" Ray announced, to the palpable relief of the occupants of the engine room. "She doesn't look too good. Suggestions?"

* * *

Sara slapped groggily at her neck. "M'squito?" she slurred. She had a hazy notion that there shouldn't be mosquitoes wherever the hell she was right now.

There was a collective exhale of relief that sounded like just so much static in her comm. She wondered vaguely what could cause that…and also, why it was so dark…and so hard to breath.

"No Sara, not a mosquito. Different irritant altogether," Snart informed her in a particularly snarky drawl.

"You're back," Sara murmured.

"I'm back," Snart agreed. "And you're not where I left you. Where the hell are you, Assassin?"

"Someplace with no booze…and no one to play cards."

"Sara, Ray has administered a couple of mild electrical shocks, to act as a stimulant," Martin interjected calmly. "Do you understand?"

"Not really." She coughed then, gasping a bit afterward.

"Do you remember what happened?" Jax prompted. "You're in an access point, under the deck. You're the only one who could fit in there."

"The ship?" Sara asked, trying to focus, when all she really wanted was to go back to sleep.

"The ship is fine," Jax assured her, "you shut off the valve and fixed the leak. You saved us all. But you inhaled a lot of gas. You need to get out of there, get checked out, maybe some oxygen."

"'Kay," Sara mumbled.

"No, Sara, it's not OK," Martin said urgently. "You need to -"

"Lance," Snart stated in an icy calm voice. "You need to get out of there, right now. We can't come and get you, because none of us will fit in that space. There's no room for you to turn around. You need to crawl out backwards, and you need to do it now. You hear me? Start moving, or so help me, I'll have Raymond zap you again."

"It's OK, Sara," the miniaturized Ray added, in his best 'helpful boy scout' tone. "I'll stay with you."

"Lucky me," Sara muttered.

Ray, being Ray, chose to interpret that literally. He started directing Sara back out of the tiny crawl space.

"Will you get that damn light out of my eyes?" she complained.

"Are you sure, Sara? It's awfully dark in here."

"Ray. I'm going backwards. That means I can't see where I'm going anyway, so all you're doing is giving me a headache. A strongiworse /strong/iheadache," she amended.

* * *

The crew in the engine room exchanged worried glances at that statement, and the labored sounds of her breathing.

Snart was hanging down into the tiny opening in the deck, shining a light into the duct. "Isn't there any other way to get to her?" he asked, his mind processing - and discarding - various rescue scenarios.

"No, man," Jax replied. "I woulda gone myself, if there was."

"We know that, Jefferson," Martin murmured comfortingly.

"What about ripping up some of the deck plates?" Snart asked intently.

Jax shook his head. "Coolant system. Rupture that, and she's dead for sure."

Mick swore, but Snart remained eerily silent, staring into the empty space that had seemingly swallowed Sara. He had a vivid mental flash of her body, still and lifeless, buried in the guts of the ship. No. He'd rip this place apart with his own hands if he had to. He shook his head sharply to banish any other mental demons.

"Come on, Sara," they heard Ray cajoling her through the comms.

"Sara!" Snart barked.

"'M all right," she mumbled.

"If you don't stay awake, I _**will**_ have to zap you again," Ray said apologetically.

Sara grunted noncommittally.

"Hey, get that light out of my eyes!" Ray complained suddenly.

"Payback's a bitch," Sara muttered.

"Wait. If he can see the light -" Martin exclaimed.

Snart leaned farther into the opening. "I can see your feet, Sara. You're almost here. Keep coming around the corner."

There was a muffled sound of pain, then a moment's stillness, then the shuffling sounds of more motion.

Ray came zooming out of the duct and re-sized himself.

Snart stretched out a hand to squeeze the back of Sara's calf reassuringly. He felt almost giddy with the relief of being able to see and touch her. He wondered if he was keeping those emotions off of his face - then realized he didn't really give a damn. "You're almost here, Birdie. Just a little farther."

The last few feet back into the light seemed interminable to Sara. She was so, so tired, and she didn't recall when her body had gotten so heavy.

Snart laid a gentle hand on top of her head to guide her out of the duct. Mick reached out from the other side to steady her. Sara wobbled to her feet, and Snart lifted her out of the access point, rolling onto his back on the deck, with her sprawled across his chest.

He ran his hands lightly over her body, checking for injury - and reassuring himself that she was, indeed warm and whole in his arms. Finally, he pushed her tangled, sweaty hair back from her face. She was far too pale, and her face was smudged with dirt, but she was breathing, and with him. She was quite possibly the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

"The engine?" Sara wheezed.

"The engines are fine, Miss Lance, "Gideon informed her, "thanks to you. But it would seem that you are in need of some repair. If you could proceed to the medbay, I can administer an antidote for the gas you inhaled."

"We're on our way," Snart replied, shifting them both to a sitting position.

Mick helped get them both to their feet, and steadied Snart when he lifted Sara into his arms. "Come on, Birdie, let's get you fixed up."

"I can walk," she protested, struggling to be set down.

"Not right now you can't," Mick said with gruff affection. "You did good, Blondie."

Snart just shot her a look and, if anything, settled her a little more firmly in his arms. Something about the look in his eyes led her to relax back against him, with only a tiny huff of protest.

Ray approached, helmet in hand. "Sara, I'm so sorry that I wasn't here when it happened. Going in there alone…I think that's one of the bravest things I've ever seen."

There were murmurs of assent from the team, until Gideon cut in, sounding as put-out as was possible for an artificial intelligence. "Gentlemen, you may admire Miss Lance's courage after I have repaired her lungs."

Snart started walking, not giving a damn if it looked impolite.

Sara looked back over his shoulder. "Ray, you'll have to get back in there…check that panel."

"We got this, Sara," Jax assured her. "You just take care of you."

* * *

Snart went about the business of settling Sara into her quarters methodically. Tea, juice, and fruit, for her abused throat, were on the desk, along with a nebulizer for any lingering effects. A couple extra pillows were piled on her bunk, so she could be propped up comfortably. He turned as the bathroom door opened.

"Thanks for not letting me die alone in there with Ray," Sara said lightly, leaning against the doorframe in a soft cotton sleep set. The bare feet and damp hair made her look smaller than usual.

Snart straightened from turning down the blankets and stared back at her with fathomless blue eyes. "Don't," was all he said.

Sara sighed softly and walked over to him, laying a hand on his arm. "I'm sorry if I scared you today. It's just…I can't ever have the team look at me like I'm just some fragile little blonde…like I might be a liability."

"Sara, those men look at you like they don't want to find out how many ways you know to kill a man slowly. Right now, they look at you like you're the person who saved their asses - because you are. No one expected you to crawl out of that shaft with your lungs full of god-knows-what, and walk away under your own power. _**No one."**_

"So, you're saying you would have carried Ray to medbay?" she asked, with a mischievous twinkle.

"He's not my type."

Sara smiled at the return of the snark and stretched up to wrap her arms around his neck. "So…can we agree that we both lead very dangerous lives…and just enjoy what we've got right now?"

"And what exactly is it that you'd like to enjoy right now?" Snart drawled as he rested his hands on her waist.

Sara tipped her face up so she was looking him straight in the eye. "I nearly died today. Again. Alone, and in the dark. I'd like very much to not be alone tonight."

"I think that can be arranged."

Snart smiled then, a genuine expression of mirth. He stooped slightly and tightened his grip on Sara's waist, then straightened, lifting her feet clear off the floor. She buried her face against his neck and giggled as he walked them both effortlessly over to the bunk, Sara's bare toes just touching the top of his boots. He half-fell, half-sprawled back onto her pillows, with Sara draped on top of him. She smirked down at him, then leaned in for a kiss.

They could work with 'right now.' It beat the hell out of 'I wish we had.'


End file.
